CAMDEN, N.J. (Jan. 22, 2022) – Over the years, the Rutgers University-Camden men's basketball team has had a terrible time against conference rival New Jersey City University, and the Scarlet Raptors definitely needed to break that bad fortune here Saturday.
 
Rutgers-Camden managed to end a few long streaks as it defeated the Gothic Knights, 75-70, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game for its first victory of the season.
 
The Scarlet Raptors improved to 1-13 overall and 1-10 in the NJAC, while the Gothic Knights fell to 9-9 overall and 6-5 in the conference.
 
Not only did the Raptors post their first victory, but they also snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Gothic Knights, dating back to Feb. 18, 2015, when they posted an 80-69 win in Jersey City. The victory also marked the first time that Rutgers-Camden won a home game against NJCU since a 103-99 double-overtime decision on Feb. 9, 2002.
 
Overall, the Gothic Knights lead the all-time series, 69-6.
 
The victory also snapped the Scarlet Raptors' 27-game losing streak, which included this season, a 0-9 mark in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign and the last five games of the 2019-20 season. That streak started after a 79-75 win at Kean University on Feb. 1, 2020.
 
In their big victory, the Scarlet Raptors surrendered the first seven points and trailed, by 12-5 and 23-15 before fighting their way back into the game. After tying the score at 29-29 on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Gavin Henry, the Scarlet Raptors took their first lead of the game, 32-29, on a trey from freshman guard Anthony Orzechowski.
 
Rutgers-Camden opened up a 37-32 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half, although the Gothic Knights tied the score twice at 53-53 and 56-56.
 
With 8:25 remaining in the game, the Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good on a trey by freshman guard Andrew Walker, making it a 59-56 game. They increased that margin to 69-62 before a six-point NJCU run sliced the gap to 69-68 with 1:15 remaining. The lead was still one point, 71-70, with less than one minute remaining when a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Tristan Cornish and single foul shots by Henry and sophomore forward Jordan Carter provided the final margin.
 
Cornish and Walker finished with 14 points apiece, while Henry netted 13 and Carter added 12. Junior guard Jaymes Savage had a big performance with game-high totals of nine assists, six steals and eight rebounds, while also adding seven points.
 
NJCU junior guard Derryen White scored a game-high 19 points, while senior guard Denzel Banks notched 14 points and five assists. Freshman forward Corey Manning-Floyd added 13 points for the Gothic Knights.
 
The Raptors shot 22-for-45 (48.9 percent) from the floor and 18-for-25 (72.0) from the foul line, while holding a 35-30 edge off the boards. NJCU shot 25-for-55 (45.5) from the floor and 12-for-21 (57.1) from the line.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. NJAC game at The College of New Jersey.